LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 




®]|ap.- (M)ujng|tln. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



:ti 

11 
■ii 

1 

i 

i 

' ! 

Jll 

11 
'! jll 

1 
1 

i 1 

i 
1 j 

M 

! 

1 


HINTS 

OONCF.RNINO 

BY 

N. 'CLEAYELAND. 
1 8 5 3 . 


1 

/ 
/ 

1 

! 

i 

1 

i 

ii' 

i 
1 

i 
1 

1 

i 

1 

1 

! 
i 


1 / 
1 / 




\ j 



n^ 



HIKTS 



OONCERNINa 



GREEN- WOOD; 



ITS 



Ointments anir %\^u\i\n\\\%. 



/ 



BY 



N. OLEAVEIiAND 

(i • . . 



PUDNEY & RUSSELL, PRINTERS 









Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, 

BY THE G-REEN-WOOD CEMETERY, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 

Southern District of New- York. 



^ \ 






^V'.\^;^V^ .s\ , ^^%vA»^, 



\ 






^^ 



HINTS 

CONCERNING 



GREEN-WOOD, &c 



•wwvvw' 



It is ten years since Green-wood was opened 
for purposes of interment. At that time a few 
of tlie principal avenues had been made, and 
this was all. The beauties and capabilities of 
the place were perceptible at a glance. A 
little of its future might, perhaps, be antici- 
pated ; yet few, it is believed, even dreamed 
of the results which we now behold. 

Within the period named, the cemetery has 
doubled in extent : nearly seven thousand lots 
have been disposed of: more than twenty- 
five thousand interments have been made. A 
multitude of beautiful inclosures, and several 
hundred tombs and monuments, involving a 
vast aggregate expense, may now be seen 
there — pleasing memorials, in the main, of 



2 HINTS COXCEENING GREEN-WOOD. 

taste and wealth — or, certainly, of grief and 
pious love. 

Mucli as lias been done towards tlie adorn- 
ment of tliese grounds by individual owners, 
we contemplate with a deeper iriterest those 
improvements whicL. have been made by 
the Institution itself. A judicious system was 
early adopted, and has been steadily carried 
out, by the government of the cemetery. To 
this, chiefly, does it owe its acknowledged su- 
periority over all similar institutions. 

Of this system, one most important feature 
is the fact, that the grounds are com|)letely 
graded before they are sold, and that no altera- 
tion of the surface, injurious to the neighbor- 
ing lots, or to the general aspect, is, in any 
case, permitted. By this means every natural 
grace has been retained, and even new charms 
have been added to the landscape. Broad 
and durable roads have been made, resting 
upon thick, absorbent beds of cobble-stone, 
and with paved gutters on all the slopes. 
Hard, clean footpaths, often shaded, invite 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 3 

the meditative and tlie sad — and give access 
to every occupied spot. Manuring, and tilling, 
and seeding, — tlie constant use of tlie rake and 
roller, the scytlie and tlie weeding-hook, liave 
converted a large portion of the surface into a 
beautiful green sward. Neatness, order, care 
— tke results of a constant and efficient super- 
vision, are every where perceived ; and hence? 
these grounds present a scene of rural beauty 
rarely surpassed, even by princely lawns. 

How desirable it is that this character should 
be preserved ! If there be any one paramount 
consideration that would influence me in the 
selection of a cemetery, it would be the ques- 
tion of suph probability. Present eligibility 
may exist — but is it likely to last ? Will de- 
cency and decorum continue to reign ? Can I 
feel a comfortable and reasonable assurance, 
that neatness and order, and a kindly protect- 
ing care, will keep these places as they now 
are? 

That there is danger on this head, particu- 
larly in large cemeteries, experience already 



4 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

sliows. In more than one may even now be 
seen tlie squalidness of neglect. The system 
thus far pursued in Green-wood — its ample pe- 
cuniary means, already secured, or likely to ac- 
crue — the provision made in its charter for the 
permanent care and adornment of the grounds, 
together with the disinterested and enduring 
nature of the Institution, as made sure with 
the utmost stability of law, give us good reason 
to hope that here, at least, the occasion for 
such reproach will not come. While the pre- 
sent management continues, we feel safe. 
When, at length, it shall pass into other hands, 
may they prove no less faithful — no less skill- 
ful! 

But it should be remembered, that the good 
looks and the high reputation of Green- wood 
depend not for continuance upon its officers 
alone. The owners of lots — those who plant, 
and those who build upon this grounder- by 
the exercise of a good, or of a mistaken taste — 
by the display of intelligence, or of ignorance 
— may greatly modif}^ the character of the 



HINTS CONCERNING- GREEN-WOOD. 5 

place. A cursory inspection of tlie inclosures 
and monuments in Green-wood will furnisli 
numerous illustrations of tliis remark, in botli 
kinds. The directors have, indeed, wisely re- 
served to themselves a discretionary power 
over tlie improvements or changes wkicli may 
be made in the lots sold. Any serious annoy- 
ance to others — any great enormity in mattery 
of taste and propriety will, doubtless, be pte- 
vented or removed under this authority. Be- 
yond this, it is an affair of difficulty and deli- 
cacy to interfere. To advise, or to dissuade, is 
about all that can be done in ordinary cases. 
The subject is important, and must commend 
itself to all who feel an interest in Green-wood. 
While there are some, whose own good sense 
and taste are a sufficient guide in matters of 
this sort, it is certain that far the greater 
number rely, mainly, on opinions (not always 
judicious) derived from others. Many are 
content with blindly copying some fanciful or 
quaint conceit, which has caught their eye — 
tolerable, perhaps, while it stood alone, but 



6 HINTS CONCERNING GEEEN-WOOD. 

odious wlien oft repeated. Others visit tlie 
stone-cutter's yard, look at Ms ready-made spe- 
cimens, and listen to advice whicli not even 
charity herself can suppose to be alivays dis- 
interested. Or anxious, perhaps, to have 
something very expressive and original, they 
concoct, with his aid, some outre design, and 
then perpetrate in marble the long-enduring 
folly. 

It is not very strange that there are numer- 
ous violations of good taste in the adornments 
of our burial grounds. In the great majority 
of cases, attention is first turned to this sub- 
ject when a lot is purchased, or when the 
death of some friend calls for a memorial. 
Upon a point which has received no previous 
consideration, the idea first presented, however 
crude, will probably be accepted. It is with 
the hope of preventing, at least, in some in- 
stances, action so inconsiderate, that thS fol- 
lowing suggestions are offered. They claim 
no weight but such as they may derive from ap- 
peals to a simple taste, and to common sense. 



HINTS CONCERXINa GREEN-WOOD. 7 

For greater convenience in reading and re- 
ference, they will be given under separate 
heads. 



In grounds secured and guarded like those 
of Green-wood, interior fences are not abso- 
lutely necessary. Still they furnish a seeming 
protection, and, at least, serve to define and 
preserve the limits of the lots. Accordingly, 
most purchasers choose to place something of 
the kind around their little domains. Some 
are content with a live hedo^e. Others have 
posts connected by chains or by bars. The 
most common fence is of iron-pale fashion, with 
posts of the same material, or of stone. There 
are a few marble fences, in imitation of the 
wooden rail. 

The quickset hedge has the charm of sim- 
plicity and of nature, and when formed of 
ever-greens, its beauty is perennial. On ac- 



8 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

count of the room wliicli it occupieSj it is best 
fitted for a large lot. It has tlie advantage of 
needing no paint. But it should be remem- 
bered that the injuries to which hedges are 
subject, are not easily repaired; and that, if 
not constantly and closely pruned, they soon 
become an obtruding and unsightly mass of 
bushes. 

To the chain fence, there is one decided ob- 
jection. The chain furnishes a tolerable seat 
and a favorite swing. The consequence is that 
the posts are soon drawn out of place. 

For small rectangular plots, posts of iron or 
stone, connected by one or two plain hars^ 
form a simple and not expensive inclosure. 
There are two or three large circles in Green- 
wood, which are surrounded by low posts, held 
together by massive bars. There are j)robably 
no fences there which were more expensive. 
Their beauty I should estimate in the inverse 
ratio of their cost. 

The marhle imitation of the wooden rail- 
fence, being neither strong nor handsome, has 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 9 

nothing to recommend it but its expensiveness. 
There is, as yet, no instance in Green-wood of 
the stone parapet. In some situations, a low 
battlemented wall of sand-stone would have, 
it is believed, a fine effect. The first cost 
would be considerable, but it would take care 
of itself ever after. 

Of the iron fences, there is an endless diver- 
sity. It is perhaps to be regretted, though, I 
suppose, unavoidable, that the more graceful 
and artistic wrought iron is fast being sup- 
planted by the rigid but cheaper castings. 
As to the style, you must choose for yourself 
The varieties are as numerous as the patterns 
of calico on a shopman's counter. Look at 
these varied specimens of Yulcanian ingenuity. 
Compare the more elaborate and complicate 
forms with those of a simpler character. If 
your eye does not return from all those figures, 
and coils, and quirks, and symbolic devices, to 
rest, with sensible relief, on the simplicity of 
straight lines and unencumbered curves, — I 
can only say, it differs from mine. 



10 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN- WOOD. 

A word now in regard to posts. There 
seems to be a strange rage for these articles. 
In some parts the ground is covered with them. 
So numerous are they, and so glaring in their 
prominence, that they seem to leave little 
room for anything else. Particularly objec- 
tionable are those white marble or granite 
abominations, which stick up so thickly in cer- 
tain places. As a general thing, for an iron 
paling, a few well-proportioned posts of the 
same material, answer every purpose, and look 
incomparably better than stone. By the gate- 
way of a large inclosure, or round some massive 
monument, posts of stone, properly adapted in 
size and form, have an excellent effect. But 
in most cases, they only belittle the lot and 
the structure which they guard, and injure 
the general appearance. 



HINTS CONCEKNING GREEN-WOOD. 11 



The fear has already been expressed, tliat 
Green-wood is in danger of suffering serious 
injury from a universal tree-planting. The 
Cemetery owes no small share of its unrivalled 
beauty to its admirable alternation of wood- 
land and glade. The opening, and the thicket, 
are made doubly charming by mutual reflec- 
tion and contrast. But as things are now 
going on, this charm will soon be gone. Each 
lot-owner on the open spaces thinks he must 
line his small plat with trees. These, so ra- 
pid is their growth, will soon leave little else 
in si^ht. In Mount Auburn, such a change 
has already taken place, and greatly to its 
disadvantage. 

Is there no remedy ? Yes. Let those who 
are so fond of shade, seek it where it already 
exists — beneath noble trees of nature's own 
sowing — and thus leave the green lawn to 
others who love the sun and sky. Or, if the 



12 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

luxury of planting must be indulged, let tlie 
trees selected be those of a dwarfish type, and 
of attenuated foliage ; and, let even these be 
' few and far between.' After all, our fears are 
stronger than our hopes. The change, unless 
arrested by some general regulation, wdll go 
on, — -and these avenues, now so open and 
bright, will, in a few years hence, wind dark- 
ling along through dense groves of spruce, and 
pine, and larch. 

The custam of rearing flowering shrubs and 
plants is not exposed to the objection just 
raised. It is one, indeed, which, with most 
persons, commends itself favorably to the sen- 
sibilities and the taste. Even allowing that 
often it is a piece of affectation, or of imitative 
display — still, in many cases, it doubtless helps 
to soothe the first anguish of bereavement. 
We would not forbid the pious care. Let 
nature bloom above the still precious dust, and 
shed upon it her fragrant offerings. But surely 
there should be a limitation here. I like to 
see the rose bending over the humble mound, 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 13 

or lovingly twining about tlie lettered stone. 
A few flowers, appropriate in their lines and 
associations, scattered liere and there in the 
grass, and growing, as it were, spontaneously, 
are very becoming. Not so these artificial 
beds, these gravelled walks, these trim par- 
terres, filled but too often with flaunting 
exotics. 



0minttnfe mii^ Mtwmmk 



Six years ago, I presented in Greenwood 
Illustrated, some general considerations on 
monuments. I have reason to think that they 
have been approved by the judicious. The 
managers of the institution have given them 
their sanction, by according to them a j)lace in 
their annual pamphlet. Having seen in the 
interim no occasion to change those opinions, 
but, on the contrary, much that confirms them, 
I shall here give, in brief, the substance of the 
article, with some additional suggestions. 



M HINTS CONCERNINa GREEN-WOOD. 

The erection of monuments for tlie dead is 
a custom sanctioned by all experience, and not 
less rational than natural. In cities and 
crowded churchyards, it has from necessity 
been often laid aside, but it revives in the 
rural cemetery. Here, as reason and nature 
dictate, the dead are, for the most part, con- 
signed singly to the bosom of our mother earth. 
Each separate mound may have its own me- 
morial. Such grounds, from their general 
attractiveness, as well as their numerous ob- 
jects of individual interest, become places of 
resort. Their monuments draw attention and 
scrutiny. The flat, low-lying, undecipherable 
slab — the thin, unbraced, and too often lean- 
ing headstone ; and the more ambitious, but 
transitory pile of wretched masonry, which 
have so long deformed our burial-places, now 
yield, or should yield, to a more enlightened 
taste, to more massive, and better proportion- 
ed, and far more durable erections. 

In matters of this sort, no one would wish 
to see unvarying uniformity. There may be, 



HINTS CONOERNINa GEEEN-WOOD. 15 

and tliere ouglit to be, an endless variety. 
But let taste, if possible, reign tlirougliout. 
Assuredly tliere is such a principle, and its 
general laws are fixed and known. 

Of all monuments, a dah^ laid upon the 
ground, is tlie most simple and least costly. 
But these are its only merits. To read the in- 
scription, one must stand over it. The letters, 
even when deeply cut, are soon filled with 
lichens and dirt, and become illegible. The 
stone itself is liable to be buried in the grass, 
if not in the earth. Finally, it looks low and 
mean. 

When this same horizontal tablet is put on 
legs, and raised a little from the ground, it be- 
comes more dignified. I cannot, however, re- 
commend the form. The foundation is sel- 
dom of uniform firmness, and the slab, conse- 
quently, soon loses its level. The lettering 
also, as in the case above, quickly fills up. 

The vertical lieadstone also combines sim- 
plicity and economy. To keep it vertical, it 
must have a substantial base. It allows con- 



16 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN- WOOD. 

siderable variety in form, and is susceptible, to 
a certain extent, of becoming ornament. But 
tbis limit is often overstepped. Tbe money- 
expended in covering such monuments with 
coarsely sculptured wreatbs and roses, or with 
caricatures of infants and angels, would often 
tell to far better account, if employed in aug- 
menting tbe size and massiveness of tbe stone. 
By giving it beigbt, and tbickness, and artistic 
form, tbe beadstone may be made a graceful 
and even imposing structure. 

During tbe last :^Ye and twenty years, our 
monumental arcbitects bave seemed to be 
strangely enamored of pyramidic forms. Tbe 
obelisk is seen every wbere. It is not denied 
tbat a monument of tbis figure, wben large 
and monolitbic, bas a certain degree of dignity. 
But even tbe original Egyptian model, (as 
tbose wbo bave seen can testify,) is indebted 
for its impressiveness mostly to its antiquity 
and its associations. Tbe tall and costly pile 
on Bunker Hill, is far from being wbat it 
ougbt to bave been, a striking feature in tbe 



HINTS CONCEKNING GEEEN-WOOD. l7 

landscape. Sucli a structure can boast no par- 
ticular elegance of form, or skill of art. It is 
simply a towering, tapering heap of stone. In 
shape, in height, in effect, it differs not essen- 
tially from the ambitious chimney, that soars 
by its side. We regret the attempted repeti- 
tion of this experiment at Washington. A 
hundred thousand dollars have already been 
sunk in rearing a gigantic frustum — an un- 
meaning mass of marble and mortar. For less 
than this monument will cost, should it ever 
be completed, (an event far from probable,) 
we might have a colossal, equestrian statue of 
Washington in bronze, surrounded by the 
forms of his fellow warriors and statesmen, 
with relievo representations of Eevolutionary 
scenes, not inferior to that remarkable group 
in the Unter den Linden, of which Berlin and 
Prussia are so justly proud. In such a work, 
what gratification for the eye ! What in- 
struction and excitement for the mind and 
heart! What encouragement, and what re- 
nown for native, deserving, struggling art ! 



18 HINTS CONGEENING GEEEN-WOOD. 

If there be so little to commend in the 
larger and better specimens of the obelisk, we 
cannot say much of the miniature imitations. 
Their narrow surfaces leave but scant room for 
inscriptions. Their geometric form scarcely 
allows variety. The sameness, where they are 
numerous, becomes extremely tiresome. Thus 
far. Green-wood has suffered less in this re- 
spect than some other cemeteries. 

I have said that this class is not susceptible 
of variety. This refers to the genuine, antique 
obelisk, in which the angular measures, and 
relative proportions of base and pyramid, are 
nearly uniform. Departures from these are 
often seen in our grave-yards and stone-yards ; 
but they are, for the most part, varieties of 
ugliness. Those who select the obelisk, should 
be particular as to its shape, and should place 
it, if possible, where it will contrast advanta- 
geously with other forms. 



HINTS CONCEENING GREEN-WOOD. 19 



When copied from tlie best examples of tlie 
ancients, the sarcophagus is not nnpleasing. 
For proper effect it requires a greater eleva- 
tion than is generally given to it. 



ij\t Cffhtmit* 



The round column^ as we generally see it in 
our burying-grounds, is quite too small for im- 
pressive effect. It looks slender ; it lacks dig- 
nity ; it does not fill the eye. 

There are in Green-wood several square and 
poh/gonal pillars, rising from high and large 
bases, and crowned sometimes with fantastic 
caps. These monuments, some of which are 
incumbered with costly ornaments, make con- 
siderable show. We think the taste which 
they gratify may well be questioned. 



20 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

The altar-form monument, witli a coped 
top, occurs repeatedly in these grounds. These 
vary much in size, and style of ornament. 
Some of them are large and elegant, and have 
an interior space for temporary interment. 
ScJienck^ on Bayside Avenue, and the Cornell 
tonib^ on Ocean Hill, are examples of this class. 

There is a form of monument, which may 
be called, for convenience, the coped oblong, 
A specimen may be seen over the grave of 
William Bell, in the Pierrepont inclosure. 
Lawn-girt Hill. The Livingston memorial, 
near the Tour and Central Avenue, is of the 
same genus, though on a much larger scale. 
This monument admits of considerable diver- 
sity in form. It is well adapted to inscriptions. 
It is not costly, unless it be large. It is modest, 
simple, and solid. 

There is another, and very important class 
of monuments, for which we have no recog- 
nized, distinctive name. It is a short pillar. 
It is round, or square, or hexagonal. The 
sides are vertical, or slightly inclined, or some- 



HINTS COJSrCERN'ING GREEN-WOOD. 21 

what curved. It is coped, and surmounted 
generally by an urn. That this monument is 
susceptible of many modifications in size, and 
shape, and ornament ; that it is adapted to a 
frugal, or to a liberal expenditure ; that 
whether it be small and simple, or large and 
dignified and decorated, it may alike possess 
true beauty, is shown, I think, by numerous 
specimens in Green- wood. Look at Benedict, 
on Ocean Bluff; Harper, on Butternut Hill; 
Smith, near Lawn-girt Hill ; and at Leonard, 
Buchanan, l^orris, Kingsland, Cleaveland, and 
Atwater, on Ocean Hill. 

Fault has been found with some of these. 
"They were too bulky — clumsy, in short." 
We half thought so too. Attempts were 
made to avoid this error. Pillars of the same 
general style, but far more slender, showed 
themselves on the ground. Hardly had we 
looked at the whittled, tapered imitations, ere 
we fled back in haste to the substantial and 
respectable originals. 



22 HINTS CONCEBNING GEEEN-WOOD. 

We liave no partiality for tlie cliarnel Tiouse^ 
wlietlier below or above ground. The grave 
seems decidedly preferable. Let tlie dead be 
interred. Let earth conceal them from our 
sight, and kindly, gradually, resolve them to 
herself Against future desecration, all would 
secure 

"The mould 
Once hallowed by the Almighty's breath." 

La what other way can we do this so effec- 
tually ? The vault may, indeed, be fast, and 
strong, and durable. But what will protect its 
contents, when, in the inevitable course of 
events, it shall pass into the possession of those 
who will care nothing for the builder or his 
kindred ? 

But the necessities and habits of city burial 
have made the tomb seem natural and familiar 
to many. An aristocratic feeling may possibly 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 23 

influence some, wlio would fain be select in 
tlieir associations, even under ground. In 
others, doubtless, the preference springs from 
a tenderer and better motive. Not a few pre- 
fer the tomb, and will have it. 

The steep slopes of Green-wood are favor- 
able to such structures, and show many ex- 
amples of neat and excellent architecture. 
The features a23propriate to the tomh-fagade^ 
are an appearance of perfect security and 
strength — symmetrical proportions- — and that 
air of quiet solemnity which becomes the en- 
trance to a house of the dead. The following 
may be referred to as good exemplifications : 
Cairns, Unkart and Kobbe, Meade, Shiff, Tag- 
gart, Bunting, Fletcher, Morgan, and Wood. 

In naming these and other examples with 
commendation, let it not be imagined that we 
advise any to copy them. To this, there are 
weighty objections. Toward the sculptor or 
the architect who conceived the beautiful de- 
sign, such a course is meanly piratical. It in- 
vades also the rights of the proprietor, who 



2tl: HES'TS CONCERNING GREEN- WOOD. 

lias paid liberally tliat lie miglit have some 
thing peculiar and unique. 

A copy made by common workmen (and no 
others will attempt the wrong) is rarely suc- 
cessful. Often it is only a caricature. To 
copy is slavish, as well as mean. It discour- 
ages originality, and creates that monotony 
which is a positive vice in the province of 
taste. If you see a design which you like, ap- 
ply to the artist who produced it. If he de- 
serve the name, he will give you, not a repe- 
tition of his own idea, but another conception, 
perhaps a happier one. Surely this is far 
more honorable than the course of those who 
employ mere artisans to steal the property of 
genius. 

There are several structures in Green-wood, 
which must be classed among its tombs, al- 
though wholly above the surface. Here may 
be seen Egyptian, Grecian, Gothic architec- 
ture. Some of them are large, elaborate and 
costly. So far as structures like these are 
merely ambitious in their character or aspect, 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 25 

indications of wealth, rather than of sorrow, 
or of taste, we cannot but regret to see them 
rising. Such erections can do nothing for art, 
nothing for sentiraent. They teach no high 
lessons, they awaken no emotions of beauty, 
of tenderness, or of hope> All sm^ely will ac- 
knowledge that the rivalry of wealthy display 
should never invade the sacred precincts of the 
grave. The costly offerings which are brought 
there, like those of Nicodemus and the pious 
Arimathsean, should excite no envious or 
emulous desires. Let them be such as reason, 
and taste, and religion can approve. To this 
subject reference will again be made. 



Symbols, in monumental sculpture, if hap- 
pily conceived and well executed, are always 
gratifying. The rareness of success shows the 
dijB&culty of the undertaking. On the other 



26 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN- WOOD." 

hand, in no department of art, perliaps, is 
failure so glaring, or so shocking. It is painful 
to be forced to smile at objects which are de- 
signed, and which ought to compose and to 
elevate our thoughts. Let the man who con- 
templates such a work, remember that he is 
about to invite scrutiny, and to challenge 
criticism. Let it be well considered, lest, 
peradventure, he record some expensive folly, 
in a material whose durability would then be 
its greatest objection. Such a work should 
call into requisition the choicest talent and 
the highest skill. Genius and piety should 
furnish the design ; judgment and taste should 
superintend the task. 

On a point of this nature, our suggestions 
must, of necessity, be generaL ISTot a few de- 
rive their symbolism from the ancients. The 
lachrymatory, the mutilated column, the in- 
verted torch, are very frequent. To be classic 
is the highest ambition of some. With them, 
appropriateness and consistency are matters 
of small importance. Were there no other 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN- WOOD. 27 

olbjection to the class of objects in question, 
it would, in my mind, be sufficient, tliat imita- 
tion and rej)etition are fatal to sentiment, and 
nullify, if they do not reverse, the intended 
effect. Let it also be considered that these 
symbols are pagan, not only in origin, but in 
purport. They are the mute language of a 
grief, to which consolation was unknown — 
the sad hieroglyphics of despair. They say 
nothing of faith, or hope, or immortality, or 
heaven. What have Christians to do with 
such emblems? 

One other kind of mortuary memorial asks 
our attention, and it is the highest of all. I 
refer to personal representations in the form 
of statues and rehefs. These may be copies 
from nature, or ideal forms; they may be 
human, angelic, or allegorical. They all be- 
long to the province of sculpture, and many 
of her best triumphs have been won on this 
field. Would that it were far more common 
to resort to this mode of adorning the tomb 
and commemorating the dead. 



28 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN- WOOD. 

To those who have the desire and the means 
of securing these most beautiful and expres- 
sive of all memorials, our advice is summed up 
in a word. Employ the sculptor. The term 
IS sufficiently definite, and certainly does not 
include all who have learned to chip and hew 
in stone. Here, as in poetry, to fall short of 
excellence, is to be nothing, or worse. When 
commissions in sculpture shall be confined to 
able and educated artists, we shall, at least, 
be spared some gross absurdities. Cherubs, 
with babies in their arms, will no longer be 
seen in downward flight ; and marble seraphs 
will cease to weep^ and Ireak their liarps^ be- 
cause a mortal has exchanged the woes of earth 
for heavenly bliss. 

There is, however, a difficulty connected 
with the employment of sculpture for sepul- 
chral purposes. Statuary marble is ill fitted 
for exposure to the severities of our climate. 
It seems little less than cruel, to subject its 
snowy whiteness and chiseled delicacy to the 
rude assaults of storm and frost. The occa- 



HINTS CONCEENING GREEN- WOOD. 29 

sional humidity of our atmospliere, so favor- 
able to tlie growth of licliens ; its liability to 
frequent and extreme changes of temperature ; 
its winds, charged sometimes with dust, and 
sometimes with emanations from shrubs and 
trees, alike pernicious whether in bloom or 
decay ; these constitute a series of deforming 
influences, which the hardest and finest mar- 
ble cannot long resist. Statues thus exposed 
are so rare among us, that these effects have 
not been often witnessed. But they are in- 
evitable, as thousands of examples prove in 
other countries, which resemble ours in climate, 
where many a chiseled Apollo and Adonis 
have come to look little better than chimney- 
sweeps. 

But the difficulty is not insurmountable. 
Carrara marble is not the only material for 
statuary. We believe that our best sand- 
stones will yet, to some extent, be used for 
this purpose. Some of them are very Hght 
colored, and withal so compact and fine, that 
they may be wrought with almost the same 



30 HINTS CONCEENING GREEN-WOOD. 

sharpness and delicacy as marble itself. Let 
tliem be tried. They would, at least, have a 
hardier aspect, and even the stains of weather 
and time' would more become them. 

Or, better still, emjDloy bronze. It is adapt- 
ed equally to statues and reliefs. It heeds 
not the weather ; it almost defies the touch of 
carelessness and malice. To its imperishable 
shapes you may entrust the form and features 
which you would fain embalm, or the sym- 
bolic story of love and faith, and send them 
down to ages far remote. 

In this respect, happily, we are no longer 
dependent on Paris or Munich. We have, at 
length, among ourselves, the artists, the means, 
and the material. Green- wood itself, will soon 
possess specimens of monumental bronze, of 
which we may, as Americans, be proud. 

But we need not forego the marble : only 
let the creations of the artists in that beauti- 
ful material be protected. For a purpose so 
worthy, we would gladly see the little temple 
go up. Let the lifeless body moulder beneath. 



HINTS CONCEKNIISa GREEN-WOOD. 31 

In tlie room above, let us "behold tlie sculp- 
tured form standing life-like, or reposing as 
did the original in the first sleep of death. 
Or there let the angel of the resurrection 
stand, and remind each beholder of that great 
day when all the sleepers of the grave will 
wake. Here, too, might the sister art of paint- 
ing find an appropriate place, while imparting 
beauty and solemn meaning to the frescoed 
wall. Against the action of the elements, and 
of rude hands, all this might be fully defended 
by means of glass, and yet be seen by every 
visitor. 

We would intercede with those who can 
afford to mourn expensively ; who build costly 
mausoleums, or rear the tall, and florid, and 
meaningless column. The heap of masonry, 
which tells of nothing but pride; the ill- 
shapen and flower-incumbered pillar, which 
looks so tawdry, may indicate a poverty of 
mind and taste quite as much as they evince 
pecuniary ability. We regret to see money 
thus worse than wasted. The structures re- 



82 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

ferred to, liowever elaborate in finish, or arcH- 
tectural in their form, make, as objects of sight, 
scarcely any impression. They are in fact 
mere imitations — large-sized models — and 
we give to them the same passing glance of 
indifference, that we should bestow on a hand- 
some Grecian dog-kennel, or Gothic bird- 
house. 

But how different the case, were the inte- 
rior of such structures made receptacles of 
works in the highest line of art. Have we 
not painters and sculptors- blessed with na- 
ture's own inspiration, and laboriously trained 
in the best schools of the world ? Shall they 
languish, and only the stone-hewer flourish? 
Why not enlist in your service that rare and 
glorious skill ? Why not spread before all, a 
banquet for the eye, and mind, and heart? 
Thus may you have the privilege of speaking 
in beauty and power to the present and the 
future. Thus may you associate your own 
names with the patronage and the immortal 
life of genius. 



HINTS CONCEKNING GREEN-WOOD. 83 

I cannot leave this topic without allusion to 
another mode in whicli it is hoped that sculp- 
ture will yet find a safe home in the shades of 
Green-wood. The idea of a large building, 
erected for this purpose, and specially adapted 
to it, has, from the first, been cherished by the 
founders of the institution. An object so de- 
sirable will not, we trust, be long delayed. A 
structure, such as this ought to be, would add 
ornament and dignity even to those delightful 
grounds. In every season, and in all weathers, 
it would furnish a sheltered and comfortable 
walk. And, best of all, here the pencil and 
the chisel might contend in friendly rivalry, 
and both would bid us bless an 

" Art that can immortalize.'^ 

In view of what has been accomplished in 
Geeen-wood, it is not presumptuous to hope, 
that we shall yet behold on one of its fair 
eminences, a commanding and spacious edifice, 
with chapel, and halls, and corridors, and ar- 
cades, not unworthy of comparison with the 



V, 



34: HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

as yet unmatclied cemetery of tlie Certosa in 
tlie environs of Bologna. It asks no stretcli 
of fancy to imagine tlie inviting and instruc- 
tive spectacle, wliicli a place like tliis must, in 
tke course of time, exhibit. 

For monumental purposes, apart from sculp- 
ture, tlie materials in general use are marble, 
granite, sandstone. Of tkese, the first-named 
seems to be, on the whole, the most popular. 
This is not strange. It is brilliant and showy. 
It contrasts strongly with the dark ground, 
and with surrounding verdure. It is easily 
wrought. Its blackened inscriptions are so 
plain, that " he who runs may read." Finally, 
it asserts something like a prescriptive claim 
to such employment from usage immemorial. 

These qualifications will always commend it 
— especially to that large class who care mainly 
for present appearance and immediate effects. 
But there are some who look farther. They 
have noticed that marble is injuriously affected 
by moisture and cold. That it is liable to 
crack, and even exfoliate. That it soon be- 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 85 

comes stained, and in that state looks dirty 
and bedaggled. Tliat inscriptions on this sub- 
stance, to be read witb ease, must be blackened, 
and tkat the pigment soon washes out, rarely 
to be renewed. They have remarked, espe- 
cially in the case of our own limestones, that 
lichens find on them a congenial soil, and 
often require but a few years to make all let- 
tering illegible. This is a serious objection, 
and all the more, as no " Old Mortality" can 
now be looked for, with pious mallet and 
chisel, to keep fresh the tomb-stone memory 
of modern saints. Finally, in burying-grounds 
filled with marble monuments, their eyes have 
soon grown weary of the monotonous white- 
ness, or have been pained by its glare. 

With some, granite is the favorite. It is 
certainly hard; it is believed to be durable. 
It has a stern, cold look. It is well adapted 
to a particular style of monument, perhaps, 
also, of men. It shows best in massive struc- 
tures, and in simple forms. Of ornament, it is 
almost wholly incapable. 



8Q HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

8ienite is a kindred rock, and, in some re- 
spects, more suited to monumental purposes. 
There are in Green-wood several obelisks of 
tlie dark Staten Island stone. They are finely 
cut, and highly polished, and look strong, and 
dignified, and indestructible. 

The fine, compact sandstone claims, on the 
whole, our preference. The light-brown free- 
stones of New-Jersey, Virginia, &c., are now 
well known and much employed. For monu- 
mental uses they are admirably fitted. Allu- 
sion has already been made to the ease and 
delicacy with which this material can be 
worked. Its good looks are not fleeting. 
Even its stains are not unbecoming. If any 
doubt its superior duration and fitness for the 
purpose now in question, . let them examine 
and compare the headstones and tablets in St. 
Paul's and Trinity church-yards. Let them 
note the difference (especially in the inscrip- 
tions) between the marble of thirty years' 
exposure, and the sandstone which has been 
there fiYQ times as long. With the issue of 



HINTS CONCERNING GKEEN-WOOD. 87 

such a comparison, we would readily leave tlie 
decision. 

When stratified rocks are used in building, 
each piece should invariably be laid on its 
plane of lamination. If the strata are set on 
their edges, they are liable to slough off, in 
consequence of the interpenetration and ex- 
pansion of water. In monuments of moderate 
size, vertical joints should be avoided. Let 
each stone, if possible, reach quite across. 
Use only the best of water-proof cement. Be 
sure that the bed of concrete on which the 
structure rests, extends below the upheavings 
of frost, and the undermining labors of the 
grave-digger. These precautions are not idle. 
If disregarded, the monument, which you have 
reared to transmit your memory, may decline? 
or fall even sooner than yourself. 

The rise and progress of Green- wood Ceme- 
tery has been watched with deep interest by 

Sot a few. We have had the satisfaction of 
— , ■ .• 

seeing it steadily advance in substantial pros- 
perity and public regard. A vast expenditure 



so HINTS CONCEENING GREEN- WOOD. 

in improvements and monuments, has given it 
importance as mere property. Twenty-five 
thousand kindred bodies now sleeping there, 
have bound it to our affections, and have izn- 
pressed on it a value which no arithmetic can 
estimate. We respect the pubHc spirit and 
disinterested motives which led to its forma- 
tion, and which have continued, with equal 
taste and judgment, to direct its affairs. We 
have seen it attain a rank inferior in no re- 
spect to others ; and in some particulars, far 
surpassing every similar institution in the Old 
World and the New. We feel an honest pride 
in its fair fame. We are jealous for Green- 
wood. Should a lavish and senseless display 
become general — should violations of pro- 
priety in the design, the execution, or the in- 
scription of monuments be frequent — should 
an idle rage for planting convert those sunny 
glades into gloomy thickets ; in a word, should 
Taste, and Beauty, and Intelligence, cease to 
reign there. Green-wood would lose its best, 
if not its only charm. If Fashion and Ambi- 



HINTS CONCEENING GEEEN'-WOOD. 89 

tion are to invade this home of tlie dead, It 
may yet become as vulgar and lieartless a 
place as tlie living city itself. 

A careful walk througli the grounds, will 
show that we are not without reason for ap- 
prehension. The more recent monuments 
seem to evince a growing tendency to mere 
show. There is a superabundance of orna- 
ment. The beauty of form — the grace that 
may be expressed in mere lines — the impres- 
sive effect of a massive simplicity, are not ap- 
preciated as they deserve to be. The head- 
stone covered with marble roses, the pillar 
stuck all over with wreaths and emblems, de- 
mand and receive the same admiration as we 
bestow on her, who endeavors to compensate 
for want of beauty, by overlaying her person 
with jewelry, and lace, and flowers, and 
flounces. 

Of sculpture, or what was meant for it, we 
have many unfortunate specimens. To this 
evil, and its proper remedy, I have already 
alluded. In most cases, probably, those who 



40 HINTS CONCEKinNG GREEN-WOOD. 

have set up these monstrosities for public in- 
spection, are to be regarded as victims, rather 
than as offenders. May others be saved from 
like impositions. Surely, he who can spend 
hundreds or thousands of dollars on a monu- 
ment, might afford to pay some skillful artist 
for a chaste design ; some man of lettei^ for a 
decent epitaph; and some schoolboy, to see 
that it is not misspelt on the stone. 

A monument on one of the avenues of 
Greenwood is yearly seen by many thousand 
persons. The ill-conceived emblem — ■ the ill- 
executed sculpture — the ungrammatical in- 
scription, and the unpoetical lines, are inevi- 
tably subjected to criticism. Were it not well 
to consider this — ye, who are about to build 
in stone, and to write your names where they 
will be read when you shall be no more ? 

I must say a reluctant word in regard to 
another class of memorials. I refer to the 
glazed niches, the glass show cases, filled with 
small images, with artificial flowers, and some- 
times with playthings. We understand and 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 41 

appreciate the feeling wliicli dictates these ex- 
hibitions. We reverence a mother's grief. 
We can look, but with pity, even on its excess. 
Weep, afflicted parent, but spread not out 
thy sorrows before a hard, cold world. Look, 
sometimes, if thou canst bear it, on those 
touching mementoes of childish pleasures and 
endearments, but let them remain in their own 
little cabinet. The grave is no place for toys, 
and as to the artificial flowers, they belong to 
Canal-street. 



Eight years ago we wrote a plea for monu- 
mental inscriptions. It was first printed, and 
may still be found in the Comptroller's annual 
pamphlet. From various causes, some of 
which are there suggested, epitaphs had gone 
greatly out of use. They had become un- 
fashionable. A wish was expressed for the 



42 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

revival of a custom so old and so rational. It 
was hoped that in Green- wood, tlien just start- 
ing — we miglit be allowed to read with 
quickened sensibilities, the modest, tender, and 
pious inscription, — and that there the " Muse," 
whether learned or ' unlettered,' might strew 
the holy texts, which alone can teach us how 
to die. 

The wish and the hope have not been dis- 
appointed. There are many neat and beauti- 
ful epitaphs in Green-wood. But with the 
good, as usual, has come also the evil. Though 
we never expected perfection, we did not an- 
ticipate quite so large a measure of the oppo- 
site extreme. Surely, in an age and land of 
vaunted refinement and general education, our 
tomb-stone literature ought to be free from 
gross violations of syntax and orthography. 

An inscription for the dead should be sim- 
ple in style, sparing of words, modest in eulogy. 
The long and labored epitaph is seldom read. 
Glowing encomiums are received with distrust. 
Excessive praise — fulsome always •— seems 



HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 43 

especially so, wlien heaped on tlie dead. 
These are principles generally acknowledged 
— though, in practice, so often disregarded. 
Indeed, we have seen specimens of epitaphian 
laudation, which indicated that their authors 
had resolved into an affirmative, the intense 
negation of the poet : 

' Can Honor's voice provoke the silent dust, 
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of death?" 

There is in Green-wood a class of inscrip- 
tions — getting now to be very common — 
which, at first thought, may seem to violate 
no rule of propriety. "Father:" "Mother:" 
"Dear Johnny :" " Our sweet Emmie :" and 
" Our little Bobby ;" — when first seen, seem 
very simple and tender ; — the unstudied ut- 
terance of filial or parental grief, which could 
vent itself only in passionate exclamation. 
But not so, when the once solitary specimen 
has become the fashion, and stares at us with 
every turn. The expediency of such expres- 
sions on the tomb-stonCj under any circum- 



44 HINTS CONCERNING GREEN-WOOD. 

stances, may well be questioned. While the 
heart of our friend i^ yet bleeding under some 
recent bereavement, we listen sympathisingly 
even to his extravagance of sorrow or of 
praise. But sooner or later the time comes, 
when such language is heard no longer; or 
when, if uttered, it only grieves and offends 
the ear of Friendship. Surely that which may 
not be spoken occasionally in the ear, ought 
not to be obtruded unceasingly on the eye. 
Terms of fond endearment (if ever proper) 
should be reserved for the sacredness of do- 
mestic privacy. When forced upon the indif- 
ferent by-stander, they are always disgusting ; 
and equally so, whether lavished on the living 
or the dead. Fond mourner — confine your 
passionate utterances to the friendly bosoms 
that share your grief; or, still better, breathe 
them only in your secret sighs. 



Q^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




012 609 504 1 



